Edgar M. Roberts, a concert pianist and faculty member of The Juilliard School for 56 years, died on July 25 in Kingston, N.Y. at the age of 80, after a long struggle with cancer.

Edgar Roberts

Born in Sulfur Springs, Okla., Mr. Roberts was raised in Texas. He got an early start in his piano career at age 3, when he would sidle up to his Aunt Willette (the accompanist at the silent movies hosted in his father's theaters in Memphis, Tex.) and play "by ear" while she worked the pedals. He began formal study at 7 and entered the Fort Worth Conservatory in 1933. At 15 he hosted his own solo piano program on the Texas State Network and on radio station WFAA-WBAP in Dallas and Fort Worth. Two years later, he won the prestigious Dealey Award, sponsored by the Dallas Morning News, which brought performances with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Dubbed "the flaxen-haired virtuoso," he was even called to step in for another pianist on 12-hours' notice for a performance of The Firebird, under the baton of Stravinsky himself.

Mr. Roberts studied piano at Juilliard with Josef and Rosina Lhévinne, Sascha Gorodnitzki, Adele Marcus, Olga Samaroff, and Rosalyn Tureck, as well as chamber music with Felix Salmond and composition with Bernard Wagenaar and Vittorio Giannini. His studies were put on hold when he was inducted into the United States Army Air Corps in 1941. Stationed in Honolulu, Mr. Roberts continued to perform during his off-duty hours. Returning to Juilliard, he completed both bachelor's and master's degrees in 1949 and joined the Pre-College faculty, continuing to teach there until illness put an end to that activity last year. He also taught at New York University since 1969.

Following his Carnegie Hall debut in 1961, Edgar Roberts performed more than 300 solo concerts that included several for former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. In addition to concertizing, he also served as coordinator and conductor for Rosalyn Tureck's Soloists Collegium of the International Bach Society.

Mr. Roberts leaves behind his wife of 39 years, Adelaide Ruggiero Roberts, with whom he frequently performed as a duo piano and piano four-hands ensemble. Enthusiastic scholars of piano literature for four hands, the couple transcribed many compositions and gave concerts and master classes in New York, California, Hawaii, Italy, Denmark, England, Mexico, and Japan. The duo was featured frequently on radio stations in the New York area, and was televised in Hawaii and in Guadalajara, Mexico. Adelaide and Edgar Roberts produced two series of CDs for Sony: What Sarong With Piano Duets? and Two Hearts, Four Hands, as well as two videos. Their CD of Robert Starer's Night Thoughts for vocal quartet and piano four-hands was released by Albany Records in 1995.

In addition to his wife, Mr. Roberts is survived by a niece, Karen Roberts, and two nephews, Brett and Delane Roberts, of California.